As used herein, the terms "antimicrobial", "bactericidal", and "fungicidal" describe the killing of, as well as the inhibition of the growth of, bacteria and fungi. The term "viricidal" is used to describe the inactivation of virus particles so that they are unable to infect host cells. The term "detergent" describes any substance or product which, when dissolved with water, is capable of dislodging, removing, and dispersing solid and liquid soils from a surface being cleansed. The term "detergent" also includes soaps comprising salts of long chain fatty acids.
A major difficulty in health care facilities, such as hospitals and nursing homes, is the spread of dangerous infectious diseases caused by a wide variety of microorganisms. The problem is exacerbated in these facilities because many of the patients are in a weakened condition due to their primary health problem. A microorganism that would not be a major threat to a healthy person could be fatal to a patient with a diminished capacity to defend himself from infection.
These potentially dangerous microorganisms are spread by a variety of vectors. One of the most common vectors is health care personnel. For example, a nurse or doctor may administer care to one patient and then be called upon to treat a second patient. Even though he or she may carefully wash his or her hands before treating the second patient, potentially dangerous microorganisms may be transferred from the first patient to the second patient. The microorganism may then cause a serious infection in the second patient.
Potentially destructive microorganisms also tend to collect and reside in clothing and in fabrics. Clothing that is used when exercising is particularly susceptible to the accumulation of potentially destructive microorganisms. If these microorganisms are not killed or inhibited, they may cause extensive damage to the fabric. Conventional detergents do not have the capability of killing many of these destructive microorganisms. A microbiocidal cleansing agent is needed that will kill or inhibit the microorganisms residing on the fabric and, at the same time, not cause any deterioration of the fabric and not cause any adverse physical reactions in the individual who is wearing the fabric.
A solution to the problem would be a cleansing agent that has the capability of killing or inhibiting a broad spectrum of microorganisms but, at the same time, is non-toxic so that the cleansing agent could safely be used around humans. Although some detergents do exhibit a certain amount of microbiocidal activity, this activity is not, in general, sufficiently high to inhibit the growth of pathogenic microorganisms. As an example, there have been epidemics in hospitals where the causative organism grew in the soap used by the health care personnel.
To increase the microbiocidal activity of detergents, microbiocidal additives can be added to detergents to improve the detergent's microbiocidal properties. Such a microbiocidal additive should have several important properties. One such property is that the additive be safe when used near or on humans and animals. Many compounds that have microbiocidal activity cannot be used in soaps and detergents because of the toxicity of these microbiocidal compounds.
The microbiocidal additive must also retain its microbiocidal activity when combined with the detergent. Many substances which, by themselves, have strong microbiocidal properties lose much, or all, of their activity when they are incorporated in detergents. For instance, chlorinated phenols exhibit a very high bacteristatic activity, but, in general, when they are incorporated in detergents, this activity is so diminished as to be of little or no value.
Thus, the control of microbial contamination is a major problem today in both industry and the home. It is difficult to develop a microbiocidal cleansing agent that is both effective in controlling the growth of a wide variety of unwanted microorganisms and is, at the same time, safe for use around human beings and animals. What is needed, both in industry and in the home, is a microbiocidal compound that can be dissolved in conventional detergents or be dissolved alone in water to provide a safe and effective microbiocidal cleansing agent.